ING Miami Marathon training: week four report

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." The first part of that quote, from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, can best describe how running has been going, while the second portrays the non-running part of my life. Köra från verkligheten  is a Swedish phrase meaning running from reality, and is written below my blog title, Vikingstorm, at the top of the page. In many ways, I'm a storm trying to unleash my energy on the roads and trails of Columbus.

Now that you're a bit perplexed...

Summary of the training: Everything went according to plan except the 16-miler on Saturday, which was cut 4 miles short. To make up those 4, on Sunday I ran with John on the Eagle 100 course. The Eagle 100 is a ten mile loop on the dirt roads of Fort Benning starting and finishing at King's Pond. Domingo Mercado and I used to run this route on a regular basis. Each time we did it, we saw the same bald eagle near the end of the run. Sometimes, it seemed like the eagle was waiting for us, and would fly directly over our heads as if to say "good morning." The "100" part of Eagle 100, refers to the fact that we saw the eagle 100% of the time we ran. On yesterday's Eagle 100 run, I started to tell John the story of why we named it the Eagle 100, and just as I started to tell the story, an eagle flew into our view as it launched from a limb high about our heads on the southwestern edge of King's Pond. A few moments later, a second eagle flew away from another tree in the same vicinity. This is the first time I had seen two eagles there. John joked that we should rename the route "The Double Eagle 100."

Other news: The Cumberland Island Adventure is still in the works. This will involve a 6-mile sea kayaking trip from Crooked Island State Park to Cumberland Island, a barrier island on the southeastern corner of Georgia on the border of Florida. After kayaking to the island, "we" will run around the island to all of the important landmarks/sights (33-40 miles) before heading back. Most-likely this will take place over the Memorial Day weekend. It'll be hot, buggy, hard, and will require lots of tidal planning. More to follow on this...

Next week: 90 miles. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge!